Gaddafi treated blacks as equals – Rawlings recalls with pain

The latest revelation of slave trade and dehumanizing treatment meted out to black Africans in Libya has caused former President Jerry John Rawlings to be downhearted.

The maltreatment captured on videos as well as widely circulated photographs has received universal condemnations.

The former Ghanaian leader recalled how the late Muammar Gaddafi of Libya showed respect to other Africans.

“And I say so with emphasis because whatever faults Gaddafi had, blacks were treated as equals in Libya than in most Arab countries,” Mr. Rawlings said in a short statement to condemn the attacks in Libya.

Titled “In support of our brothers in Libya,” Mr. Rawlings who ruled Ghana for almost two decades was sad Libya is in the news for such a bad reason. “How sad that events should turn out this way and the black man is being subjected to this kind of treatment in Libya of all places.”

He said although the “frightening experience” may no doubt serve as a deterrent to the use of Libya as a gateway to Europe, “we must still add our voices to the call to our Libyan brothers to show a little more compassion to our vulnerable black African brothers and sisters”.

He reminded the perpetrators of the heinous crime that, “We are all creations of the one Allah, but disfigured by the shameless greed and corruption of man.”

Meanwhile, the UN Secretary General António Guterres has condemned the “appalling acts” and have ordered that the slave trade is investigated by competent authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice.

“I am horrified at news reports and video footage showing African migrants in Libya reportedly being sold as slaves…I have asked the relevant United Nations actors to actively pursue this matter,” he said.